


Crabwise

by thorinoakenbutt



Series: FFXIVWrite2020 prompts [13]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Miqo'te Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Named Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Post-Patch 5.3: Reflections in Crystal, Tumblr: FFXIVwrite2020, vague botanist stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:33:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26620720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorinoakenbutt/pseuds/thorinoakenbutt
Summary: Definition of crabwise1: (of movement) sideways, typically in an awkward way"Raha, can you bring me that box of cyclops onions over there?" his Warrior asked, without looking up from the ledger he was bent over as he sat with legs sprawled on the floor. E'andhris was surprisingly in his element. When he'd told G'raha that this was what he did on the rare occasions that he had leisure time,for fun, the redhead had laughed aloud before he realized that his lover was serious.The Warrior of Light, botanist extraordinaire.
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light
Series: FFXIVWrite2020 prompts [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918291
Kudos: 16





	Crabwise

When G'raha had asked E'andhris to take him on an adventure, preparing boxes and boxes worth of crafting materials and foodstuffs for orders on behalf of the botanist's guild in Gridania wasn't exactly what he'd been picturing. He wouldn't have minded going out gathering with his beloved, had he asked. But this was...tedious. Monotonous. If he'd wanted to do work such as this, he'd have stayed behind in Mor Dhona to reorganize the bookshelves within the Rising Stones. 

"Raha, can you bring me that box of cyclops onions over there?" his Warrior asked, without looking up from the ledger he was bent over as he sat with legs sprawled on the floor. E'andhris was surprisingly in his element. When he'd told G'raha that this was what he did on the rare occasions that he had leisure time, _for fun_ , the redhead had laughed aloud before he realized that his lover was serious. _The Warrior of Light, botanist extraordinaire_.

He frowned as he looked about the stockroom through the myriad of wooden crates before he finally found one with a hastily scrawled label marking it as his target. _Cyclops onions, Abalathia's Spine_. He bent and hoisted the surprisingly heavy crate into his arms with a soft grunt. "Lift with your knees, not back," he muttered under his breath when he felt a twinge at the base of his spine, then began to sidle towards where the Warrior sat.

E'andhris glanced up at the sound of his shuffling footsteps, an amused look slipping into place across his face. "Why are you walking crabwise?" he questioned, arching one blonde eyebrow. The Warrior rose to his feet and met him halfway, taking the oversized box into his arms easily as G'raha happily relinquished it. He set the crate down, squatting as he opened it to root through the produce.

"I beg your pardon?" G'raha's nose crinkled - _adorably, as E'andhris was wont to say_ \- in confusion. His beloved sat aside the occasional onion, ones clearly gone bad with rot or gone too far into sprouting. He organized them by two categories - ones for planting and ones to be turned into compost. 

When his question caught up to the Warrior's focused brain, he looked up at G'raha in surprise before frowning. He bit his lip, and the redhead found himself feeling suddenly distracted. "You know, like..." he began, trailing off. For lack of a better explanation, he held up his hands like crab claws and pinched thumb and fingers together. Then he flushed, looking supremely embarrassed as soon as he made the gesture.

G'raha chuckled warmly, reaching down to smooth down E'andhris' baby hairs that had escaped from his ponytail. "Walking like a crab, hm?" he queried. His lover flushed harder. The redhead moved his hand to rub at one of E'andhris' ears in an attempt to soothe his flustered state. "I'd never heard of that one before."

" _Ha_!" the Warrior exclaimed, triumphant with a pleased purr in his chest. "Imagine that, I'm teaching _you_ a new word for once, o' mighty Student of Baldesion." He grinned up at G'raha with such enthusiasm that the scholar found himself beaming in response.

"Haha, you're so funny," G'raha replied, playfully sarcastic. He pinched the base of E'andhris' ear, just to watch him squirm. "Anyroad, where did you learn that one?"

The Warrior placed the lid back on the crate with a heavy thunk, and picked up his hammer to seal it shut for transport. "Well, you know how I grew up in La Noscea?" he asked, flicking his ear out of G'raha's reach. "Obviously, we had a lot of fish and sea life that we'd hunt for. Crabs, for one."

"Ah."

"My sisters, cousins, and I used to play with them on the beach, as our parents brought in the traps and nets," E'andhris went on to say. "We'd poke them with sticks to make them snap at us. You know how kits are. Sometimes my sisters would would flip them onto their backs to make me cry."

G'raha shot him a sympathetic look at that. He knew only too well how cruel the teasing of other children could be. Worse, when it was your own family. "Poor thing," he murmured, placing a hand on his Warrior's shoulder and gave a soft squeeze. An unobtrusive sign of his support. 

E'andhris shrugged. "Right. Well, once when I was _extremely_ young, mind you, I decided to mimic them and go pinch my eldest half-sister for being mean. Call it vengeance, if you will," he said softly. He leaned against G'raha's leg, hand coming up to rest over top of his. "My mother laughed, then told me to stop walking crabwise before I tripped and landed face first in the sand."

The scholar bit back a snort of a laugh, moving his hand back to pet E'andhris' hair. "Oh?" he asked, his voice tremulous with a poorly concealed chuckle. "How old were you?"

E'andhris squinted, the sign that his mind's gears were whirring. G'raha half expected to see smoke coming out of his ears, one of these days. "Four, maybe five?"

G'raha whistled. "And you _remembered_? That's impressive, especially for you," he teased, letting a proper laugh escape his throat. E'andhris snorted, his free hand snaking around G'raha's hips to pinch his bum, laughing when he made the shorter seeker squeal.

**Author's Note:**

> Two fills in one day, heyo! Prompt 13 was a free day so I looked up what Merriam-Webster's word of the day was and immediately was like YES. I CAN DO SOMETHING WITH THIS.


End file.
